What 90% LTV means
Loan-to-value is the size of your mortgage as a percentage of what the property is worth. At 90% LTV you are borrowing 90% of the value and covering the other 10% yourself — either as a deposit if you're buying, or as equity you already hold if you're remortgaging. On a £250,000 property that's a mortgage of £225,000 and £25,000 of your own money.
Lenders publish their rates in LTV bands, and the price steps down each time you cross into a lower band. The bands are hard edges, not a sliding scale: at 90.1% LTV you pay the rate for the band above, not something in between. That is why a small overpayment or a favourable valuation can be worth far more than it looks.
The rates in the table are the deals available to someone borrowing at 90% LTV — which includes any product whose maximum LTV is 90% or higher. If your LTV is lower than you assumed, you'll see better pricing than this page shows.
Where most first-time buyers start
A 10% deposit is the level most people can realistically reach, and 90% LTV is consequently the busiest entry point into home ownership. Every mainstream lender offers products here, so the choice is broad — but the pricing and the criteria both reflect that the lender is carrying more risk than at 75%.
Expect the underwriting to be more attentive than the rate tables suggest. At 90% lenders look harder at the stability of your income, the source of your deposit and any recent credit activity, and they are less willing to flex on borderline cases than they would be with more equity behind the loan.
What it costs compared with a bigger deposit
The step from 90% to 85% is one of the larger single-band improvements in the market. Whether it's worth delaying a purchase to reach it depends on your circumstances, but the comparison is straightforward enough to be worth doing explicitly rather than assuming.
For anyone already on a 90% mortgage, the practical implication is different: your next remortgage is likely to be at a lower LTV automatically, through a combination of capital repayments and any change in the property's value. That's often the single biggest improvement available at your first remortgage, and it happens without you doing anything.
Getting accepted at 90% LTV
Because the margin for error is thinner, the routine things matter more here than they would at a lower LTV.
Deposit source
Lenders will trace where the money came from. Gifted deposits need a letter confirming it's a gift, not a loan, and money that appeared recently from an unexplained source causes delays.
Existing credit commitments
Car finance, buy-now-pay-later arrangements and unused credit-card limits all reduce what you can borrow. Clearing what you can before applying often helps more than a slightly larger deposit.
Property type
New-build flats, ex-local-authority properties and non-standard construction often face lower maximum LTVs. A lender advertising 90% may cap that property type at 85% or decline it.
Employment history
Recent job changes, probation periods and short self-employment histories are scrutinised more closely at 90% than they would be at 75%.
Common questions
What does 90% LTV mean?
You're borrowing 90% of the property's value with a 10% deposit or 10% equity. On a £300,000 property that's a £270,000 mortgage and £30,000 of your own money.
Is a 10% deposit enough to buy a house?
Yes — 90% LTV products are available from every mainstream lender. You'll pay more than someone with a larger deposit and the criteria are applied more strictly, but it's a well-served part of the market.
Should I wait and save a 15% deposit instead?
It depends on the numbers in your situation. Compare the payment at 90% and 85% over the deal length you'd choose, then weigh that against rent paid while saving and what property prices do meanwhile. The rate saving is calculable; the rest is a judgement call.
Why was I declined at 90% LTV?
The most common reasons are affordability under the lender's stress test, unexplained deposit funds, recent credit issues, or a property type the lender caps below 90%. Criteria differ substantially between lenders, so a decline from one doesn't mean the same answer everywhere.
How current are the rates on this page?
We collect product data from the lenders we track from their published information and refresh it regularly, so the deals above are the ones a borrower at 90% LTV could access at our most recent check. Lenders can withdraw or reprice a deal at any time, sometimes with a few hours' notice, and a rate shown here is not an offer — availability depends on your circumstances, the property and the lender's own criteria.